16 Responses for "8 Things Geeks Need To Work Happily"

1. Broc

   March 13th, 2007 at 11:13 pm

   1

   hahaha
   these are all so true
   we are too OCD as a people
   and yes
   geeks are now a people
   :)

2. Lissy

   March 13th, 2007 at 11:44 pm

   2

   wow, I didn’t realize that geeks felt they were that superior. really, let them wear headphones? sorry, that’s just rude.
   Why should these things only apply to geeks? Does anyone really like wearing a suit? I think this list just makes geeks look like whiners.

3. ragnaphobia

   March 14th, 2007 at 2:24 am

   3

   lol. i totally agree with those 8 things. Lissy, its not because geeks are superior or whiners. There just like to be left alone and do their stuff. Using of headphones makes geeks feel more “secured”. In what sense? Dont ask me. Because i have not reached that stage yet. Most geeks are introverts so they have trouble adjusting to their work environments and stuff. I probably know how a geek should feel because i stared at my computer 15 hours a day and im slowly turning “geek” !.

4. Ross

   March 14th, 2007 at 7:47 am

   4

   I’m sorry but a lot of these are not just completely impractical (where/when you want? (Going to work to nap on a sofa!? Sorry, that isn’t work!! You shouldn’t be being paid!)) but also reinforces the stereotype of “geeks”, by which I assume you mean us “code monkeys”, as anti-sociable creatures of the dark that is a viewpoint too often plaguing the industry anyway. A lot of the time I hear whining about the void between “geeks” and “management”, but think about it, if you don’t attend company meals and events on occasion and actually socialise then you’ve only got yourself to blame.
   The only one I can 100% agree with is with the headphones, and that is simply because I find I work best with music playing, but that doesn’t mean to say people can’t approach me as I’ll gladly take them off to talk. And for gods sake if I ran a respectable firm then there are some occasions where I *would* expect you to wear a suit, simply for the fact that there are days where, in almost any job, you need to look respectable. I think a lot of these “geeks” will have a harder time finding employment if they don’t just work on their inter-mingling skills a bit, else you’re making the void greater for all of us and I for one don’t appreciate it. We are not special little beings that deserve preferential treatment.

5. Calmstorm

   March 14th, 2007 at 9:25 am

   5

   Don’t expect the geek to use just one monitor.

   Give total control of the A/C Temp to the geek, it will be cold.

   Don’t anger the Geek, you will lose your network rights.

   Don’t ask the geek questions about your “Home” PC, it will anger them, see above.

   Email or IM the geek, do not stand behind them at their desk tapping your foot, a geek can sit in the same spot for days without moving.

   If you must communicate with the geek do not ask them about the best MP3 Player for your family members, this will cause you PC to stop functioning.

   And lastly never ask a geek why they need to upgrade, if we don’t upgrade the universe will implode.

   l8tr,
   Calmstorm

6. sonics mate

   March 14th, 2007 at 11:27 am

   6

   ha ha ha
   as a young geek in school i find that all of them would be nice
   although i hate school because all we do is revise nothing new what so ever

7. Saborlas

   March 14th, 2007 at 5:49 pm

   7

   9. Make them feel respected and valued. Geeks tend to be a bit more sensitive to negativity, so disrespecting them and/or taking all credit for their achievements is a fast way to make your geeks apathetic and distrustful. It may also serve as an inspiration for a Dilbert strip, if your missteps in this regard are unique. Above all, do not use the phrase “I don’t pay you to think!” You hired a geek, you DO pay them to think. Insinuating that a geek’s job can be done by a zombie or simple robot is extremely counterproductive.

   10. A good way to get a geek interested in company recreational activities is to start off with activities that are comfortable to them, and work your way towards the standard activities. Your company computer network should be more than adequate for playing multiplayer video games, and most first-person-shooters have a team-based “Capture The Flag” mode which would be a good outlet for inter-departmental venting. It’s like paintball, but with less bruises. Another tactic you can try is table-top role playing games (Dungeons and Dragons being the most popular), which are excellent for building teamwork and creative thinking skills. I’m sure your geeks can come up with more examples, and you should encourage this newfound interest in socializing. Once your geeks are used to interacting with non-geeks in a recreational manner, they will be more likely to show up at the company barbecue (and they’ll be more sociable there, actually knowing some people to talk to).

8. Robert Claypool

   March 14th, 2007 at 6:01 pm

   8

   @Lissy
   Care to elaborate on why it is rude? I’ve heard people come up with mutually conflicting ideas on what is rude, so if you’d elaborate, that would help people to either agree with you or explain why your concerns do not apply in this case or addressed by other means.

   I think it’s rude that you are just lashing out and not coming forward with your real concerns, but then that’s just me.

9. Robert Claypool

   March 14th, 2007 at 6:25 pm

   9

   And the other posts that try to hide “Well, that’s just the way it’s done” as the real mentality at work. Why can’t you look respectable without a suit? A lot of people think of Sunday church as “social”, but what it boils down to is a bunch of people paying attention to the activity at the front of the room. Many corporate “social” functions are no better. Not wanting to go to activities the main point of which is to demonstrate one’s submission to the corporation is not “anti-social”.

   Playing against geek fears that they are perceived as having a superiority complex, whiners, undeserving of respect, and are whiners is hostile and insincere behavior.

   Make a real case and don’t just get your digs in.

10. Lissy

    March 14th, 2007 at 11:41 pm

    10

    I think wearing headphones in any situation where you’re expected to interact with people is rude. If you’re just sitting in your cubicle/office coding away and never speak to anyone (my idea of hell btw) then I guess it’s OK.

    and I said why I don’t like it, the list shouldn’t only be applied to geeks. I think most people feel that way. And saying that this is how geeks should be treated makes it seem like geeks think they’re better than everyone else. If it said, “Things People Need To Work Happily” I’d be OK with it.

11. JC

    March 15th, 2007 at 5:47 am

    11

    “If it said, “Things People Need To Work Happily” I’d be OK with it.”

    Lissy, the site is called Forever Geek. If it was called Forever People, your comment would hold more water. You can’t reasonably get worked up because a post reinforces the site name.

    The actual list is kinda silly, it’s just talking around the main problem… anyone who needs to work with complicated concepts that require keeping mental track of multiple unrelated and changing things at once (like coding), needs several hours of totally uninterrupted time to effectively do so (15+ minutes to get into ‘the zone’ and 5 seconds to get out of it because your coworker’s celphone goes off at 800 decibels behind you and you didn’t have your earphones in.)

    I think these posts all cover it more effectively
    http://www.microisv.com.ph/blog/interruption-is-your-enemy.html
    http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000068.html
    http://w-uh.com/articles/030308-tyranny_of_email.html

    I know personally I’m in coming up on the end of a very large project and I nearly throttled my normally wonderful boss the other day for interrupting me about 15 times to ask about unimportant crap when I was having one of the most productive sessions of coding I’ve had in months and ultimately completely broke my concentration to the point where I said “screw it” and started playing with the google maps API instead.

12. Robert Claypool

    March 15th, 2007 at 11:33 am

    12

    “I think most people feel that way.”

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population#Population_distribution
    Asia accounts for over 60% of the world population with almost 3.8 billion people.

    Lets ask them how they feel.

13. Robert Claypool

    March 15th, 2007 at 12:23 pm

    13

    “…in any situation where you’re expected to interact with people…”

    That bit made me wonder if I had left the “A lot of people think of Sunday church as “social”, , but what it boils down to…” bit off my post. I hadn’t.

    There aren’t many situations where “you” are actually expected to interact with people. There are situations where people are anticipated to interact with each other, but time and time again, not very much interaction occurs except possibly in established cliques, the attempt to interact with members of said cliques by “outsiders” is met by hostile behavior. Wearing headphones is really quite tame compared to the things that could be considered rude that goes on as a matter of course in such situations.

14. Robert Claypool

    March 15th, 2007 at 3:34 pm

    14

    Lissy said. “Does anyone really like wearing a suit?”

    Ross said, “And for gods sake if I ran a respectable firm then there are some occasions where I *would* expect you to wear a suit, simply for the fact that there are days where, in almost any job, you need to look respectable.”

    Well there you have it. Some people like wearing a suit because they suffer from the misbegotten notion that you have to wear a suit to look respectable.

15. Jade

    March 15th, 2007 at 4:03 pm

    15

    I totally agree with these. Some of them I wish I could do even do!

    Jade Hansen
    HandStands
    http://www.handstands.com

16. Steven

    March 17th, 2007 at 12:18 pm

    16

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